How do I attend Airborne School? Well, here's the deal on attending the Army's Basic Airborne Course (BAC). The Army Program here at Kings Point has a formalized process through which we are allotted 12 seats to BAC each year - six in the spring and six in the fall. We attempt to select classes that coincide with your breaks; however, we must select the classes in January of the prior fiscal year and the academic calendar sometimes changes by the time it is finalized. This AY we have seats in class 004 which runs from 04NOV11 through 23NOV11 and class 014 which runs 02MAR2011 through 23MAR2011. We will hold a meeting in late AUG for the fall class and JAN for the spring class to go over the selection criteria - an email will go out with the date, time and location. In general you must be in good academic standing and have at least a 2.7 GPA and 120 sea days. You will need to turn in a one-page essay on why you wish to attend Airborne School, meet the Army's body fat standards, pass the APFT (Army Physical Fitness Test) 17-21 age group, perform pull ups and a five mile run within 45 minutes. Throughout this testing your attitude, bearing and motivation will be assessed. All of these items will be used to establish an OML (Order of Merit List) which will rank all potential candidates for attendance to the Airborne Course. We will select the top six individuals plus two alternates to continue training in preparation for the course. We will continue to evaluate these eight individuals throughout the training period and the OML may be adjusted based on performance. Additionally the alternates may be used to fill a slot due to unforeseen circumstances that prevent any of the top six from attending the course.There are some other administrative requirements and you must pass an Airborne Physical which is done at Patten Clinic; however, the greatest single factor in determining your attendance is the APFT. We expect you to do more than the minimum to allow for the additional stresses of taking the test in the heat of Fort Benning, GA at the school, therefor you must score a minimum of 70 in each event to be considered for attendance.
Males must correctly perform at a minimum 49 push ups in 2 minutes, 59 sit ups in 2 minutes, and 2 mile run in less than 15:12
Females must correctly perform at a minimum 25 push ups in 2 minutes, 59 sit ups in 2 minutes, and 2 mile run in less than 18:06
It is critical that the push ups and sit ups be performed correctly. You can Google "APFT" or FM 21-20 (the Army's Field Manual on Physical Fitness Training) for a description of the standards. Make sure it is the 1998 version. Click for FM 21-20
If you are unable to meet these standards during the initial APFT but show the desire, proper bearing, and attitude you will still be considered for attendance to BAC. During the train up phase in preparation for attending BAC all candidates will participate in mandatory PT sessions with us which will raise your physical fitness level.
Like most endevors it is beneficial to start preparing early. You can begin by participating in the Army Program PT sessions long before Airborne School selection begins to get into shape and become familiar with the standards of the APFT.
If you have further questions post a comment, send us an email or stop in. We will try to answer all questions about the Army Commissioning Option here in the blog so everyone can see them.
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